Tesco's chief executive explains why the chain is spending millions on setting up the Sustainable Consumption Institute In devoting £25m to setting up a Sustainable Consumption Institute, we are not only looking to make a powerful statement of intent as we try to foster a revolution in green consumption - I'm also convinced that we're doing the right thing for customers and shareholders. But isn't research something best left to government, universities and NGOs? Wouldn't the money be better spent on cutting prices for customers? What does Tesco get out of this? These were some of the questions I was asked following last week's launch of the SCI, our new partnership with the University of Manchester. And it's quite refreshing to be criticised for doing too much rather than too little! In response, it's probably worth restating the basic purpose of the SCI. It will combine some of the world's foremost academics, technologists, scientists and researchers in a body that will produce cutting-edge, cross-disciplinary research into the relationships between consumption and climate change. This will not be a purely theoretical, academic exercise. All the work of the SCI will be geared towards finding real-life solutions for producers, retailers and customers. The SCI will be examining how customers can be empowered and incentivised to buy green products and services, and to adapt their consumption behaviour. Customers tell us what they see as the barriers to green consumption: price, information and availability. The SCI will work on lowering or removing these barriers. It will also help us understand ways in which producers and retailers can continue to improve the service they provide while reducing their impact on the environment. And it will be devoting considerable resources to education programmes to help develop the next generation of experts. SCI research will be made freely available to the wider community - to suppliers and competitors too. The issue of climate change is far too serious to be used for the commercial advantage of a single organisation. Which brings us back to the key question. Why Tesco? If this isn't just a PR campaign - albeit a very expensive one - what's in it for us? Well, our customers tell us they want us not only to provide choices that will help them lead greener lifestyles, but also to be an active player in the environmental debate. We are also privileged in that our success enables us to make a financial commitment of this size. Tesco can use its scale to the benefit of our customers and society . We've already shown this through our substantial investments in our nine ground-breaking environment stores across the world and in our huge price cuts on products such as low-energy light bulbs. Scale is what the problem needs: we want the benefits of this research to be felt not just in Britain but all around the world. So no, we can't wait for government agencies to tell us what to do. We must show leadership, and we must listen. We must collaborate and combine our resources with those of government, NGOs, business partners and competitors. And the surprising thing is that this is good business. In the future, it won't be enough for a business to be green and grow. We'll have to be green to grow.n Sir Terry Leahy, Chief Executive, Tesco Plc

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